


Before the Doors Opened

by KageNoNeko



Category: Ouran High School Host Club
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-08
Updated: 2010-08-07
Packaged: 2017-10-18 05:36:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/185583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KageNoNeko/pseuds/KageNoNeko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Opening a box marked 'France', Haruhi finds a memory of her childhood and made a stunning realization about the host club: she had met them all, including the good ol' shadow king, before leaving elementary. PostSeries. Mild spoilers for manga.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Only Trip Abroad

**Author's Note:**

> **Before the Doors Opened**

**Before the Doors Opened**

 **AN: Yeah, I'm starting another multichapter fanfic before completing the others, but this plot bunny grabbed and decided to drag me along. This will be updated every so often or when I get inspired. Also, I will be doing this first chapter on various computers, so there maybe a few errors because of that.**

 **Warning: mild spoilers for some of the later manga chapters and I mean very mild.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran.**

Chapter One: The Only Trip Abroad

She was standing by a bench in a busy French market, and every so often, someone older would approach her asking something in French. As a four-and-half year old, she tried to puzzle out what they were saying, only to fail and have to respond in her native language, Japanese. The ask-er would always leave and not do a thing because the language barrier was far too great to overcome. Even if the ask-er tried to do something, she would try her best to tell them that her mommy told her to stay here by this bench.

Getting tired of standing, she sat down on the bench tucking her legs underneath her and then looked at the skyline behind her. In the far distance, the famous tower stood against the backdrop of the clouds and blue sky. At this moment her young brain couldn't supply the name of the tower or the city she was in. All she knew was that her mommy had brought her along and was here for a case, and that was all she knew, nothing else and nothing more.

" _Salut, petite fille_ ," said a voice from behind her.

"I don't know French, except for a few phrases," she responded back in Japanese but continued to look at the skyline.

"Oh, Japanese! I don't get to use it much," the voice responded back exuberantly in her own language, even though it was somewhat...dated.

"At least, now I have someone to talk to," she said before turning to look at the source of voice and becoming surprised at the boy she saw. "Ain't you a little young for knowing two languages?"

" _Non_ , my dad lives in Japan and sends me all these dramas like Oshin*."

That certainly explained the dated style of language he was using and how he knew Japanese. She sighed and looked at the boy to take in his features. His hair was blond with trances of brown mixed in, and his eyes, they were a particular shade of blue that almost looked like they were purple. In all, he was odd, but even odder was that her feelings of dread that had appeared whenever someone had came up to her had not appeared when he did. "Your dad lives in Japan? Why aren't you with him?" She asked.

"I live with mom and my dad visits. Dad did something that grandma didn't approve of and that's why we don't live together," said the boy.

"Oh. What did he do?" She asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Something called an affair. What about your mom and dad?"

"Mommy is a lawyer, and she brought me here while on a case. Papa is home in Japan."

"Where's your mommy at?"

"She left me here and told me to stay here, but all these people keep coming up to me."

"Would you like me to keep you company, princess?"

"Sure."

"My name is Réné. What's yours?" The boy named Réné asked.

"Haruhi," she replied back before letting a yawn escape from her mouth.

"Are you tired, Haruhi?"

She merrily nodded her head and closed her eyes as Réné took a seat beside. As she drifted asleep, he said something about staying with her until her mom came or until she woke up.

* * *

When she awoke, her mom was holding her, and the sun had went down some what, but Réné was no where to be seen and for some reason that made her sad. "What's the matter?" Her mom asked.

"Where's Réné, the boy that was here when I went to sleep?" She asked.

"The blond boy?" She nodded before her mom continued. "He had to leave, but he didn't want to and told me that he would want to meet you again when he go and visits his father in Japan."

"Oh..."

"You enjoyed his company?" Her mom asked looking at her thoughtfully.

"Yeah," she said as she stared into space.

"You can always plan on meeting him when he finally visits his father. We should get going. Tomorrow's another busy day," said her mom as she helped her stand up. "We are going sightseeing after lunch."

She smiled looking up at her mom before speaking very rapidly about what they should see, forgetting about the sadness about not seeing Réné when she woke up.

* * *

Before her dad left for work, he told her that there was a box in one of the closets that she should look through because her mom had made it to be a time capsule to be opened once she graduated high school, which would be happening within the week. Telling him that she would look at it, he told her that it was on top of the box that held her things from elementary school. Once he told her its location, she immediately began to urge to him to get to work and not to worry about her.

When he left closing the door behind him, she stretched in her chair at her desk where various textbooks and notes were spread out. She was about to get back to what splayed out in front of her when the picture frame on her desk caught her eye. Resting her eyes on it, she recalled that picture had been taken on her first date with her boyfriend and remember said-boyfriend would want her to take a break from school work. She laughed slightly to herself and went to find that box dragging her desk chair with her to help her to reach it.

As she brought it down, she noticed first the handwriting on the side as her mother stating it was not to be looked at until her high school graduation. Then she noticed, with the box securely in her grasp, the written word on top. "France," she said lightly as the word slipped out without her meaning to.

She climbed down from the chair and dragged it back to her desk before going to the low-bearing table. Reaching the table, she laid the box down and then sat down, only to stare at the box. Her brain was in overdrive trying to think of why there was a box with 'France' written on the top of it, but no answers came to her. Without an answer except the box itself, she opened the box and was surprised. Sitting on top of a flat piece of cardboard was a handwritten note from her mother and a out-of-date passport. Reaching out to the passport, she found her brain finally supplying the answer she had been so desperate for before opening the box in the form of a memory.

She remembered, as her hand picked up the passport, being in France with her mom three months before her death. Then as she brought the passport closer, a picture fluttered down from between the cover of the passport and brought her attention to it. Laying down the passport, she picked up the picture and flipped it to its front side, ignoring all writing on the back. She was stunned as she looked at the picture, but her eyes were glued to the boy that was sitting next to her younger self.

In the picture, the boy was awake, unlike her younger self, and his eyes told her all she needed to know. The boy had introduced himself as Réné and had a father living in Japan, but his eyes reminded her boyfriend that she had gained in her second year of high school but met in her first year of high school. Starring at the picture more so, she was even more convinced that she had met her boyfriend _well_ before her first year of high school.

Thinking about how this new information would make her boyfriend react caused her to roll her eyes as his over energetic self appeared in her head reacting in _exactly_ the way she would expect him to. As the image in her head disappear, she remembered there was writing on the back of the picture that she probably should read. Flipping the picture, she was able to see the writing again.

 _Réné and I was able to talk while you were still sleeping. He reminded me of your dad. I would think that if you two meet again, you would think of him in the same way that I think of your dad._

Reading what the familiar handwriting read, she couldn't help but smile and then laugh so hard that her eyes closed automatically and her hands went to her now aching midsection. As her laughter died down, more memories came to her that stuck out like little red flags begging to be clarified with an object or picture. Those begging memories won their way her, and she went to grab the box with her elementary things in it.

Once back at the table, she went through the rest of the box marked 'France' and found more pictures under the flat piece of cardboard. Each picture brought back forgotten memories and made them clear again. When she finished, she put the pictures back in the box and placed the handwritten note and passport with the picture back in its place before closing the box. Pushing the now closed box aside and pulling the box with her elementary things it towards her, she opened the larger box and was surprised once again. "Damn rich bastards," she muttered a little fondly, "I've met every single one before I even left elementary school."

 ****

* * *

 **AN: I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of Before the Doors Opened and would love for you to drop a review. I need to know who you want me to do next and general gist of the situation. I haven't plan too far ahead with this, but it will be updated whenever I get struck by inspiration. I ended up doing this on two computers.**

 ***-Oshin...go ask your older Japanese neighbor or go look it up on wikipedia**


	2. Of Bird Chasing and Flowers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This should now be the correct chapter.
> 
> There's an Easter egg for all of you who have read the recent chapters of the manga. With 82 out, the beginning of this story is no longer in the manga cannon.

A young Haruhi was walking towards her destination, carrying a brown basket. The basket wasn't all that big, but it still threw her off on walking because her arms would get tired of carrying it and slump down enough so that it would touch the ground. Even though this basket caused her trouble, she still carried it because it was what was going to use at her destination to entertain herself. The basket was perfect for her to use to try to catch birds, and usually this activity would take place at the garden that her apartment building had. However today, she was having to go further because too many people had been at the garden, and the place she was going to had just as many birds as the garden did.

When she reached her destination, a field, she lifted the basket high above her head and sprinted forward past a plot of flowers at the entrance heading towards a far corner of the field. The particular corner she was going to was one that attracted plenty of birds and had a nice tree that provided shade for her to hide in. Reaching the corner, she sat the basket on the ground and rested for a bit, closing her eyes. It had been awhile since she had to sprint or run.

* * *

When she opened her eyes after her unexpected nap, she saw matching sets of golden eyes looking at her. "Hey, don't cha know," said the holder, a boy, of the golden eyes on the right.

"That you shouldn't fall asleep alone here?" Asked the other boy holding golden eyes on the left.

She looked at the two boys and realized that they were twins, identical twins. "I didn't mean to fall asleep," she said before leaning down to pick up her basket.

"Why do you have that?" The twins asked in unison.

"It's too big for you to carry when walking," said the twin on the left.

"It's for bird catching," she said.

"Bird catching?" Both asked.

"Yes, bird catching," she said before walking past them leaving them behind confused.

* * *

She had been sitting around waiting for quite some time without a bird to catch. Only one had been close enough for her to trap, but she wasn't able to catch it. Without nothing to occupy her time, she thought about those twins she had met earlier. She had never met twins before and now regretted not asking them to play with her. Lost in thought she looked to the sky and didn't notice that someone took her basket for a few minutes. By the time she was out of her thoughts, her basket was back with flowers along its rim.

When she saw the flowers, she wished that they could be saved but didn't know how. Gently she picked up the basket and revealed that it was covering more flowers arranged beautifully. Picking up these flowers, she found underneath them a ring of flowers that was big enough to be slipped over her head. Carefully, she picked up the ring of flowers, after putting down the other flowers, and slipped it over her head. Then she picked up the flowers that she had sat down to get the ring of flowers and left the field with her basket in her hand that wasn't holding the flowers.

* * *

The dried ring of flowers crackled beneath her fingertips as Haruhi pulled it out of the box of things from her elementary school years. As she looked at it, she knew there could only be one set of twin boys with golden eyes who could have done a ring of flowers. _Hikaru and Kaoru_. She put the ring down and peered into the box again, searching for more dried flowers. When her eyes found them, she picked them up and laid them down next to the ring of flowers. "Maybe I should start that school work," she said to herself getting up and leaving everything out on the table.


	3. An Alter Offering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **AN: After editing this, I only changed three things: the title and two words used incorrectly. The title was original Left On the Alter, but I think this title is better considering what is about.**

**AN: After editing this, I only changed three things: the title and two words used incorrectly. The title was original Left On the Alter, but I think this title is better considering what is about.**

Chapter 3: An Alter Offering

The day was sunny and bright, but for her, it was gloomy. Her head was bowed, allowing her long hair to cover her face, and she was walking forward. Today was an anniversary that she wanted to forget and to never remember again: her mother's death day. Her father had shooed her out the door, telling her to get something for the family alter from the bakery. As she continued to trudge her way to the bakery, she didn't respond to any of the greetings that her neighbors offered her, and they didn't seem to mind because all knew about her mother dying.

When she entered the bakery, she sat down at a table and starred at all of the sweets that she didn't care for. She didn't want to get something that would disappear too quickly, but she didn't know what that would be. Trying to think about what to get for her mom's alter, she didn't notice a pink rabbit being placed in front of her or a blond boy looking at her with perceptive honey-colored eyes until the blonde boy. "Are you sad because someone is gone from the living?" He asked.

She was very startled by the question and gazed at the boy. "Sorta," she started her reply. "It's an anniversary of when it...happened."

"Cheer up. They wouldn't want you to be so down," he said before looking at his stuffed rabbit. "Right, Usa-chan? Maybe we should help her."

"Nani?"

"Don't worry. I want to help you. Are you needing something for an alter that can last a long time?"

"That's what I want to get, but I don't if here is the right place..."

"It is. You wait here," the boy said before he left with his rabbit named Usa-chan.

She just starred at where the boy was and laid her head on table intending to get a little bit of rest while waiting to see if the boy would make good on his promise. If she had been listening she would've heard the boy's name was Mitsukukuni and his father uttering his sympathy for her, but she didn't because she had actually fallen asleep. When she woke to a cashier nudging her, she saw a small slice of cake with a strawberry on top, and next to it was a small decorated cake that didn't look it was real except for the frosting.

"Miss, a man and his son paid for this to be made for you, and his son said that he didn't want you to be sad," said the cashier before leaving her alone.

As she was eating her slice of strawberry cake, she looked at the decorated cake in more detail. It was decorated with white frosting and had bunnies shapes all over it. She smiled at the shapes and began to laugh quietly to herself for the first since she last seen her mother alive.

* * *

Haruhi had looked up from her homework and walked over to one of the closets before sliding the door to the side. She immediately looked up and saw a Styrofoam cake and platter with bunny shapes drawn by a black marker. Walking back some ways, she looked at the fake cake again and remembered the day she had gotten it. Now, she fully remembered how she had met Honey-senpai and why a menu from that bakery made her realized that she had met him long before she had met the host club at Ouran. As she went back to organize her homework, something else caught her eye that was behind the Styrofoam cake and made her go back to the box resting on the table.

She pulled out another thing from the box and run her hands along it. The memories associated with it were much clearer than the others that she had remembered to this point, but some how these memories seemed more like forgotten treasures that she hadn't been able to connect until now.

 ****

* * *

 **Hope you guys like that little cliff hanger. Can you guess who I will be talking about next? Thanks to everyone who reviewed and suggested ideals because they did help me!**


	4. Of Silence and Animals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4: Of Silence and Animals

She was walking around in the nearby field where she had met those golden eyed twins. As she was walking around, she stopped suddenly when she saw a dark haired boy trying to help a swan get its feet freed from a net. Once one foot was freed, the swan appeared to be working with the boy to get its other foot free, and once successful, the swan took to the air and landed in a pond a stone's throw away from where the boy was. She continued to stare at him in awe, but once the boy looked at her, she turned her stare down to the ground at her feet. Soft foot steps gave her a hint that he was coming towards her, but once a white feather was thrust into her gaze, she looked up at him. "Take it," he said quietly, almost like a mumble.

She gently touched the feather and nodded before taking it into her hands to admire it. Wondering about how he had gotten the feather, she looked up at the boy only to find that he was gone and nowhere in sight. Sad that her question would go unanswered, she left the field.

* * *

She had returned to the field a few days later and had high hopes that maybe she will find the boy who gave her the swan feather. As she walked around, she found the boy standing near the pond that the swan he had freed landed in. She went to stand next to him and then looked towards him. It was then that she noticed that he was already quite taller than she was, but that didn't scare her too much. "Thank you for the feather last time," she said quietly.

In response, she only received a grunt, but the boy squatted down and placed both of his hands into the pond. Curious at why the boy was doing such, she leaned closer to him and noticed that he had cornered a fish in the water so that she could see it. The fish was a vibrant gold color and was quite small, not fully grown. Once she looked back at the boy, he released it and withdrew his hands from the water. It was then that she noticed that his hands were rough in certain places, almost like he had worked with something in his hands that roughed them up. "What do you do?" She asked.

"Kendo."

"Ah," she answered and looked backed across the pond.

The two of them stood there and enjoyed the company that they offered to the other.

* * *

It had become an unspoken agreement between her and the dark haired boy to meet by the pond every day, and the boy would show her something new dealing with animals. This agreement continued until one day when the boy wasn't there, but a big book full of pictures of animals and text about animals. When she picked it up, a simply written note fell out of the book, and after it landed she picked it up and began reading it. It was an apology note and explained that the dark haired boy wouldn't be able to make it any more. At first, she was sad, but as the days past, the sadness lessened enough so that she could go back to that field.

* * *

As she ran her hand along the swan feather, she looked back up to where the fake cake was to see behind it the cover of the book that she had found that day. A smile came to her face, and her thoughts took a turn towards speculations. _I wonder if Mori-senpai was in that field because he was waiting for Honey-senpai to finish his cake at that bakery that I met him at near that field._

Then her eyes picked up another object hiding behind the book and fake cake, and her smile fell into a straight line. She found the memories that were coming unbridled was of someone she only knew as "Charcoal Eyes."

****

* * *

**AN: I hope you guys like this little chapter, but as you can see, I'm very much stuck with Kyoya, and if any of you have any ideals about she could meet Kyoya, suggest them because you might be able to get my brain started, but until then, I will be working on part of the last chapter of this fic and finishing up a couple of one-shots that I have incomplete on my computer.**


	5. Optometry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5: Optometry

Chapter 5: Optometry

She and her dad were visiting different places with glasses to find the person who her teacher wanted her to see and called an optometrist. When they entered a building with a bunch of glasses, her dad left her near the front of the store, and he went to the back of store. While he was in the back of the store, she was looking at herself in one of the mirrors that were sitting on the counters that was low enough for her. Her reflection stared back at her, but she frowned at it. She was wearing second-hand glasses and had been for quite some time because money was somewhat tight.

The glasses had belonged to a relative of hers and were too weak for her to use, as determined by her school's nurse, but because her eyesight had gotten so bad, the school nurse said that the glasses would work until she was able to see the optometrist person. So with her help, her dad was able to get enough money together so that she could get some decent glasses that were made for her eyesight. As she was looking at her appearance, a boy with dark hair and charcoal eyes came up to her. "What are you looking at?" He asked startling her.

"Myself," she replied before turning to look at the innocent boy.

"Then why are you frowning?"

"My glasses don't look nice."

"Oh, then that's why you are here."

"Dad's tryin' to get me to see a person called an optometrist, but I don't know who this optometrist is," she replied shaking her head.

"An optometrist is an eye doctor. My dad know the eye doctor here, and that's the only reason why we go to this _commoner's_ eye doctor place," the boy said looking to the side in disgust with narrowed eyes.

"An eye doctor? Do they poke you with those needles like a regular doctor?" She asked adding in her head that this boy was struck up rich kid.

"No, no, they don't do that. I've been told they have machines that blow air at your eyes and test you for this one condition that makes your vision all weird so that details are hard to see. Then the optometrist has these big pair of glasses that he puts in font of your face and he asks you these questions about what is clearer as he flips through these lenses."

She looked at him baffled and shock. How could a boy his age know this stuff when he doesn't even have glasses? How could he change from disgusted back to his original personality of innocence? Then she came out of her thoughts and knew what she wanted to ask. "How does your dad know the eye doctor here?" She asked.

"Ah, good question. They went to university school together as undergrads and were lab partners several times," the boy replied before looking at the clock. "I should be going because my dad is expecting me."

The boy left her, and she didn't know what to think about him except for one thing. "Stuck up rich kid," she mumbled under her breath before her dad returned and told her that she was scheduled for an appointment with the optometrist.

* * *

When she returned to the eye doctor place with her dad, she was left alone again while her dad went to talk to the woman at the front desk. It didn't take long for the stuck up rich kid to appear again with his charcoal eyes. "What are you doing here again?" She asked effortlessly when she saw him.

"An appointment," he replied before silence settled between them.

She began looking around trying to avoid looking at the boy sitting next to her, but she began to shift in her chair with nervousness and starring eyes were boring eyes into her. "Yes?" She demanded slightly.

"There's nothing for you to be nervous about. The only thing that is scary is that one machine that blows air at your eyes. You can stop shifting around in your chair so much," he said before he left her alone to go to a tall man with glasses and black hair.

* * *

When she came back to pick up her glasses and was waiting for her father to get the attention of a salesperson, the boy, still without glasses adorning his face, was waiting for her with two items in hand: a notebook and a box. "Here I wrote down things you need to know about glasses," he said as he handed her the notebook.

"Thank you," she said as she accepted the gift

"Then this should be helpful for you, scary cat," the boy said with a smirk as he placed the box on her head and left.

"Stuck up rich kid," she muttered with her sight darkened by the box.

* * *

Pulling out the notebook from that day she last saw that boy that would be Kyoya-senpai all these years later, she looked at it and opened it for the first time in many years. The handwriting was neat and manicured, exactly how one would expect for Kyoya's handwriting to be. "Stuck up rich kid," she muttered with a fondness behind those words before muttering her favorite phrase when dealing with a host club scheme that makes fun of her social status. "Damn rich bastards."

Deciding that she had enough of memories, she went back to her homework, but stopped to look at the box that had been placed on top of her head all those years. A glint came to her eye, and she fired off a quick text message to her boyfriend telling him that she was planning on spending time with him tomorrow before she wanted to get all their friends together for dinner. Once the message was sent, she sent one to the twins before she settled herself down for homework. As time flowed slowly, she eventually fell asleep at her desk with her head using her arms as a pillow on top of her papers and textbooks.

* * *

 **AN: This chapter is the longest and thanks Emigmatricrose4 for the suggest that got this chapter rolling. Be prepared for the next chapter.**

 **Also, I couldn't have done this chapter without looking at the first chapter of the manga to get some of my ideals together, as well as doing some research. Although what I'm about to say below is not relevant, I think my rant about glasses, contacts, this chapter's plot ideals, and the Ouran manga is interesting.**

 **As I was researching things for this chapter, I looked why someone would prefer glasses over contacts or vice-versa. The site I had found said that glasses were technically cheaper, which made me ask why Haruhi would have contacts instead of glasses in the first place. This thought got me thinking about the prices of contacts, and I went to look that up on the Internet and found a website about how to choose the right place for you to buy contacts. One of the factors was cost, and the website I found talked about rebates that manufactures sometimes give, so this got me on another chain of thought.**

 **The chain of thought that I got on was that maybe there was time constraints and other issues that does not allow for Haruhi to be able to get contacts at certain times. I can understand this because my parents' insurance only pays for the eye doctors every two years (yep, I do wear glasses and think that my first convention, what ever that may be, I may cosplay as Haruhi from the first half of chapter one of the manga). Then I thought of one other thing that could explain how the first chapter is set up. Maybe Hatori-sensei doesn't know much about glasses and contacts, and that could explain some things in the manga.**

 **After all of that, I ended up with this chapter. Kyoya talking about what kinda machines are there is from my personal experience when I first went to the eye doctor about twelve or so years ago. The machine that blows air at your eye checks pressure in your eye, and the other machine that Kyoya mentions tests if you have astigmatism, which is a condition where details are not as sharp as they could be. I have astigmatism with nearsightedness, meaning I can see close up without glasses, but the astigmatism, I am assuming because I haven't talked with a person who doesn't have astigmatism, causes me to feel taller when I have my glasses off for a long time. So that's how this chapter came to be.**


	6. I Met You All Before Middle School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **AN: If you were guessing at who Haruhi's boyfriend that was mentioned in chapter 1, this chapter reveals all but starts out with those really strong hints. By the way, this chapter maybe more spoiler-ish for the last three chapters of Ouran when considering the pairing. I hope that the first chapter's hints was as strong as the highly excellent hints that were in the final two episodes of the anime. The hints in the anime are not very clear until you have read the manga. To sum it up, the anime hints at what the ending of the manga was going to be like.**
> 
> Disclaimer: Even though I think Honey-senpai is the best for being able to see who all loved Haruhi in the host club, I don't own Ouran because the wonderful Bisco Hatori does. I only own six volumes.

Chapter 6: I Met You All Before Middle School

When Ryouji "Ranka" Fujioka returned from work in the early morning, he was about to utter his customarily greeting to his only daughter when he saw the table cluttered with stuff and his daughter was fast asleep at her desk. It wasn't often that he found his daughter sleeping at her desk, but the things scattered on the table told why she probably had fallen asleep. Deciding it was probably worth it, he decided to get her and his futons out. As he was walking his way to the closet that stored their futons, he noticed the old passport and opened it.

What was inside stunned him enough that he almost dropped to the floor hard enough to wake Haruhi, but he did drop to the floor, however, not that hard. The picture of her with the insect when he was younger in France was not the most shocking thing for him, but the letter was. His dear deceased wife had compared **him** to that _insect_. He did not want that _insect_ to be dating his daughter, but now that he knew his wife saw him in that _insect_ , he really did not want his daughter to date that boy. However, he glanced at his daughter and then to his wife's picture. _Like mother, like daughter, huh_ , he thought as he looked at his wife's picture. _Kotoko, what did you see in him to compare him to me?_

Realizing his eyes were starting to fall, he went off to the bathroom to do his before bed routine before returning ready for bed and to get out the futons for both his daughter and himself. Once the futons were laid out, he slid the sliding doors to get the room to half of its size before setting himself to the task of getting his daughter into her futon.

Of all the options, there was none that could get her the desk chair and to the futon without waking her up, but he was hesitant to use the option that he decided upon. As soon as the courage to wake her returned to him, it left him when she muttered that one word in her sleep that gave him the most pain. Right now, he didn't need to hear that word because it made him remember when he had to wake her up on that _sad_ day, but he decided to settle upon running his hands through his daughter's shorten hair. "Wakey, wakey. I won't want you complaining about having a sore back," he said somewhat loudly even though he knew she probably wouldn't even complain if her back was sore.

She stirred slightly but didn't show any other signs of being awake. He sighed lightly realizing that she needed more than a voice and a hand running though her head. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her until he was rewarded with his daughter's tired eyes looking at him. "Dad," she said in a mumble.

"Come on now, you need to get to bed if you don't want to have pain in the morning," he said to her softly before helping her to stand up.

She walked over to her futon and laid down quickly without taking time to cover herself. He chuckled to himself a little before going to sit on his futon next to hers. "I can't sleep," she muttered to herself.

"Then I'll rub your back for you," he said as he knelt by her futon.

She turned on to her side to allow him to do as he had offered to do before she began to mutter slightly about her plans for the next day. At first, he wanted to kill the insect, but hearing about how the other host club members would be coming later changed his mind slightly. When she slowly began to get quieter and quieter, he stopped rubbing her back for a few minutes to smooth out her hair. Before he could even return to rubbing her back, her eyes had already closed, and she was finally fast asleep.

* * *

Today, she felt unusually giddy and mischievous that it made her feel like a different person. Haruhi didn't reject this difference, but her dad was quite suspicious of her, always asking her if she was fine. As he was leaving, he and her boyfriend met at the door exactly at the time that her dad opened the door. Thankfully, she was able to intervene and stop anything that would cause the neighbors to frown upon them. Once she had gotten her dad to go to work, she dragged her boyfriend inside and shut the door before initiating a kiss with him.

When they pulled apart, he looked at her with surprise in his purple eyes, but she quickly turned and went to her desk. He didn't take long to follow her, but once he saw what she had in her hands, he became child like. "You have a passport!"

"It's old, Tamaki-senpai," she replied dryly.

"Old?"

"Look at it," she said before handing it to him.

He did as his girlfriend told him and was shocked by the photo that was tucked inside the passport. "Is this why you wanted me to call the others over today for dinner? You can call me Tamaki," said her boyfriend finally catching her little mention of senpai.

Haruhi rolled her eyes and slowly began to raise one of her legs causing her boyfriend to gulp and fear for his life. "There's more than that photo," she said before lowering her leg and going over to one of the closets and opening it. "Can you get those items on the top shelf for me?" She asked before giving a smile to him that would make him do it after hugging her to death.

* * *

Hikaru and Kaoru were very surprised when they saw Tamaki open the door of Haruhi's apartment, but when he greeted them exuberantly and Haruhi reminded him not to say something or else, the twins knew something was up, but they didn't know what until the rest of the host club had appeared.

* * *

Honey and Mori arrived after the twins, and both perceived this gathering today was going to be something different, just based on the twins.

* * *

When Kyoya arrived last, he knew something was up but only knew that because of what Ranka-san had told him. However, he was confused as to why a gathering involving everyone should be about a memory about Tamaki and Haruhi's actual first meeting.

* * *

She grabbed the box that a charcoal eyed boys placed on her head and walked into the traditional Japanese room. Gazing at all the boys, she spotted the one that she wanted and with a quickness that no one knew about, she placed the box on the top of a one Kyoya Ohtori before running back out. Kyoya surprised by the box took a moment before he took it off of his head and noticed something about the box he had taken off of his head. It was then that he realized he knew why everyone was gathered.

By the time Kyoya had made his realization, Haruhi was seated at the table with a box in front of her and Tamaki on her right, who had an arm draped around her shoulder. "I bet you are all wondering why I called you here," she said before throwing an annoyed glance at Tamaki as she reached into the box.

The boys became alert when they heard slight crunching from the box. As the ring of dried flowers was placed gently on the table, the twins stared at it with fascination before any words dropped from their mouths. "It was you at field," they said in unison.

The other boys around the table all looked at Haruhi but found the boyish-looking girl not having much concerned about the revelation. "What?" She said sensing all the eyes on her.

"You met all of us," said Kyoya pushing up his glasses, "before that day you happened upon the music room."

She smiled at Kyoya before pulling out a menu, a feather, and a notebook, laying each down next to the flowers. "Kyoya-senpai is right," she said before she tugged on Tamaki's arm to get him to bring his ear near her so that she could whisper something to him.

Tamaki's face lit up, and he rose to his feet and walked to a closet before returning with the fake cake. When the inked bunny shapes on the fake cake was seen by the boys, they all dropped their mouths opened except for Kyoya and Mori. "Do you still go to that bakery, Haru-chan?" Honey asked once he recovered from seeing the cake.

"Some times, but not often," she replied as Tamaki went back to the same closet again.

"Then how did you meet Mori-senpai?" Hikaru asked when Tamaki came back with a big book about animals.

"That should explain it," she said as Tamaki sat the book down and sat himself down next to her.

"Ah...you saw me free that swan," said Mori in somewhat a mumble.

"Haru-chan, if Kyo-chan said you met all of us, how did you met Tama-chan?" Honey asked again.

"I met Kyoya-senpai at the eye doctors, Mori-senpai at a field, you at a bakery, and Hikaru and Kaoru at the field I met Mori-senpai at a year later," she listed off.

"Tono, you know the answer, don't you?" The twins asked in unison.

"Tamaki, you can show them," she said before leaning against Tamaki.

Tamaki smiled down at her before he placed the old passport on the table and opened it with the picture's backside showing everyone the neat handwriting adorning it. Everyone else leaned inwards including Mori and Kyoya to read the handwriting and once they all finished reading it, they all looked at Tamaki before flipping the picture over. "How old was you in this picture?" Kaoru asked.

"I can't remember when it happened exactly, but mom took me along so I wasn't alone for the vast part of the day," she said.

"You met him before the twins, Honey-senpai, Mori-senpai, and me. Am I correct, Haruhi?" Kyoya said.

"Yes," she said before the twins began laughing.

"Your...mom...compared him...to your dad," the twins said between laughs.

"So?" She bluntly asked, not getting anything the twins were saying.

"Haruhi, I think they were wondering what his reaction is," said Kyoya pushing his glasses up, using the light to not show his eyes.

"I haven't told him, and I'm not planning to."

"Oh, but he has seen it," said Kyoya with that smile on his face that she had associated with her debt being raised.

"Just great," she said before her head met the table.

"Um...Haruhi?" Tamaki questioned.

"What, Tamaki-kun?" She replied.

"Weren't you going to fix a meal for all of us? And," Tamaki leaned down to her to whisper what only she should hear, "will you let me stay over tonight? The weather isn't going to be that great after everyone leaves."

Shyly and stealthy, she slipped her hand into his hand giving it a squeeze to let him know that she had agreed to the second part, no matter how much she hated the reason that was why she needed him. When he squeezed back, she knew that she probably answer the first question and she lifted her head from the table and looked at each of the boys around her table. "Do any of you mind if you get leftovers? There's a lot of stuff in the fridge that's going to go bad soon," she said.

"Leftovers?" The twins and Honey said in unison.

"I've had some before and they are not bad," said Tamaki.

"So is that what you guys want?" Haruhi asked, knowing what would probably be the answer.

"Yes," answered the three boys.

"Then I trust you all know how to know a microwave because you can warm up whatever you find in the fridge," said Haruhi.

"Normally, I wouldn't expect you to give us that freedom," said Kyoya.

"Tamaki-kun was able to get it on the first try," she said with a smile that was so big that she closed her eyes.

The twins immediately darted towards the kitchen and the fridge ready to show they could do better than their tono. Mori, Honey, and Kyoya got up and followed the twins much more quietly than the others leaving Tamaki and Haruhi alone for a few minutes. "Are you happy that I'm staying tonight?" Tamaki asked her quietly.

"Yes," she responded in a whisper.

"Do you want me to warm up some food?" He asked again quietly.

"Not this time," she said as they heard the microwave go off.

"Then shall we go and find ourselves some food?" He asked as he stood up and offered her a hand to her.

"Yes," she responded as she took his hand and stood up.

* * *

When Ranka returned from work, he was somewhat worried about the state of his daughter, considering there had been a thunderstorm right at the time of when she usually went to bed. However, those worries disappeared when he saw his daughter with her arms tightly wrapped around the insect. Although, he didn't like the insect, seeing his daughter with arms wrapped around that boy made him know that he couldn't do a thing about it. Even his anger didn't flare to life because he knew the insect would be sore the next morning. That was enough for him to be happy because his daughter wouldn't be sore.

As he got out his futon, he would occasional look at his daughter and take how her and the insect was laying. The insect was leaning against the wall but not leaning so that his daughter's hands would be squished between him and the wall. A few cushions were underneath both of their bodies, and a blanket was draped over Haruhi but had slipped down to her waist revealing that the insect had wrapped his arms around him. They both looked peaceful, and his daughter's peaceful look on her face made him happy even though he could see the earplugs in her ear that helped her get that way. Ranka couldn't help himself and went over to the two of the them to pull the blanket that had slipped to be draped on his daughter's shoulders. As he got into his futon, he smiled, knowing that he would have to get use to this sight occurring more often. If his dear Kotoko had approved of them, then he shouldn't stop them from being a couple. With that final thought, he fell asleep with a gloating joy that he would get to tease the insect about how he had deluded himself for so long.

* * *

**AN: Hello everyone. Now that this fanfic is complete. I would like to thank all of my reviewers from fanfiction.net.**

**lulu halulu**

**QuicksilverWitch (I will try to.)**

**Dark Inu Fan (Thanks for being one of my reviewers who reviewed several chapters.)**

**GalexiatheChao**

**Enigmatricrose4 (Thanks for your ideal for how Kyoya met Haruhi.)**

**MinusOne**

**paigeydoll**

**StormyNightz**

**danni55**

**idontseepenguins**

**Hell'sAngel'sQueen**

**And to the first two reviewers:**

**have-a-cookie and Water-Lily7295 (I would love to hear what you think about this story now that it is completed)**

**To you guys above, I found all the ideals you offered to help me get rid of the writer's block that I had with this. I would love to see you guys reading and reviewing my other fics. This fic is the first one where I received this many repeat reviewers, who did so for most of the chapters. I appreciated this because I wanted to write an Ouran fic that would get me a feel for how I should write the other characters besides Haruhi and Tamaki.**

**Also, I wish to give a shout out to my international readers. You guys knocked my socks off when I saw someone from Japan reading this fic. I am very honored that you, my readers from other countries, have decided to read this fic.**

**For all of you who want to read my next new Ouran fic, it will be one of several that I have started on my computer: Of How Far He Will Go, The Third Demon, or Facing Death's Doorsteps. The Third Demon might come out first, but I haven't worked much on Facing Death's Doorsteps. Then I have to update After Two Years at some point before Christmas and my other stories as well.  
**


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